Latest Powerball Numbers Drawn

A friendly reminder: even if you don’t match all the numbers, you can still win in the other prize categories if you match some of them. There are, after all, 8 other secondary prizes you can win.

The Saturday draw is now the eighth rollover period experienced by the Powerball, and if no one still wins the jackpot, expect bigger prizes down the road.

Costa Mesa Has $1.8M Mega Millions Winner

A ticket winning the secondary Mega Millions prize during last Tuesday’s Mega Millions draw was confirmed to have been bought at a Costa Mesa gas station. Should anyone come forward matching five of the winning numbers (7-16-24-61-62, Mega Ball: 2), a cool $1,812,236 prize is waiting. If you bought a Mega Millions ticket in the said gas station, better double check your tickets now!

Two Lottery Players Get Lucky on Friday the 13th

While most people believe Friday the 13th is an unlucky day, two Mega Millions players might just change that notion for good. During last Friday’s draw, two very lucky players matched all five white balls, plus the Mega Ball—which means they will split the $43 million jackpot.

One ticket was purchased at a 7-11 store located at 3461 Airport Road, Waterford, Michigan. The other ticket was purchased in Rhode Island. The winning numbers were 02-07-18-26-31, with 12 as the Mega Ball, and 2 as the Megaplier.

Did you purchase Mega Millions tickets for last Friday’s draw at these locations? Better check them now if you did—YOU just might get half the jackpot!

$1M Lottery Winner Disputes Conviction

Early this week, a $1M lottery winner from New Hampshire was found guilty of attempted shoplifting—but she and her lawyer are seeking to dispute the conviction. Last December, Yokatia Rodriguez, a 40-year old resident of Tewksbury, Massachusetts, was accused of trying to steal lipsticks from Kohl’s worth $80. Rodriguez’s receipt showed that while the items she bought nearly amounted to $520, the lipsticks were not on it. She is planning to appeal in Superior Court.

Grandpa Finds $24M Winning Ticket in the Nick of Time

Jimmie Smith, a 68-year old grandfather of 12, had been playing the lottery in New York City and New Jersey for well over 50 years. In the half-a-century of playing lottery, Smith never won the jackpot—but that all changed last May.

Smith heard about the New York Lottery searching for winner of the $24 million jackpot of the May 25, 2016 draw—so he promptly searched his house for unchecked tickets. Sure enough, his favorite shirt had a stack of old tickets tucked inside the pocket—one of them just happened to match all the winning numbers!

Needless to say, Jimmie Smith could not believe his luck—so much so that he had to stop and think for a minute, while sticking his head out of his window for some fresh air. As if he wasn’t lucky enough, it was also fortunate that he had decided to look for the ticket when he did—the deadline was fast approaching, after all. On May 25, 2017, the very last day that the winner could submit a claim, Smith showed up at a customer service center of the New York Gaming Commission.

However, that wasn’t the end of it. After he had left the office and verifying that he was the rightful owner of the ticket, the gaming commissions couldn’t get in touch with him. It was only after five months that he appeared again to collect his prize—paid out in yearly installments for the next 26 years.

Lottery Glitch from 11 Years Ago is Back

11 years ago, now-infamous lottery scammer Eddie Tipton warned lottery officials about a glitch in their Random Number Generators, but nobody seemed too worried at the time. Unfortunately for them, Tipton seemed to be right, because the same glitch—which involves the same (or at least, nearly the same) set of numbers being drawn consecutively—is now back.

During the past two weeks, the Arizona Lottery was affected by the same glitch Tipton found more than a decade ago—which prompted lottery officials to refund losing tickets. Four games played from September 28 to October 3 were affected by the bug, namely: All or Nothing, 5 Card Cash, Fantasy 5, and Pick 3.

According to Joe Diaz, the Iowa Lottery’s former vice president of security as well as a former assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the MUSL never alerted him about the concerns brought forward by Tipton at the time. Diaz says that “it very much should have been investigated how that took place.” If not resolved immediately, it could put the lottery system’s integrity into question.

Euromillions Jackpot Rolls Over

While two Mega Millions players were lucky on Friday the 13th, Euromillions players were not. No one won last in last Friday’s draw, which offered a £28 million jackpot. This means that, come Tuesday, October 17, the jackpot will now be at £36 million.

Last Friday’s winning numbers were: 23-37-50-29-45, and the Lucky Stars were 05, and 11.

Ex-Lottery President Repays Connecticut $11K

Frank Farricker, former Connecticut Lottery Corp. president and chairman of the board, recently paid the state a total of $11,318.19 in a settlement for an ethics penalty. The ex-lottery president was found guilty of filing improper invoices for reimbursement—including bills for personal expenses, like phone bills, cable TV subscription charges, and even mileage expenses. Before being found out and stepping down as president in May of this year, Farricker continuously submitted the invoices on an almost monthly basis.

Lottery Winners Pay It Forward

Over in the UK, numerous lottery winners have been helping spruce up a local boxing club that is known in the community as a lifeline of sorts for the youth. Lottery winners, like Phil and Joanne Poultney (winner of £1M in September 2016) and Dean and Stella Hardman (winner of £6.7M in November 2008), along with a host of other big winners—plus Tasha Jones, one of the first British female boxers to compete in the Olympics—joined forces to give new life to Birkenhead Venture Boxing Club. The winners’ combined worth are £60 million.